Association calls for levelling of speed limits for buses and lorries

Same speed may remove dangerous overtaking procedures, FTA argue.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has called for bus and lorry motorway speed limits to be the same.

In response to a government consultation on heavy goods vehicle and passenger carrying vehicle motorway speed limits, the association has questioned the logic behind introducing a different speed limit for lorries and a higher speed limit for passenger carrying vehicles.

FTA argue the point that levelling speed limits between motorists and commercial vehicle drivers will remove instances of risky overtaking procedures, which are especially prevalent on single carriageways where Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) over 7.5 tonnes are limited to 40mph.

The Department for Transport also hopes to level the commercial playing field between owners of older trucks by reducing the motorway speed limit of HGVs, as older trucks do not have speed limiters, whereas newer trucks are limited to a maximum speed of 56mph.

Malcolm Bingham, FTA’s Head of Road Network Management Policy, said: "These plans should make it easier for police to enforce the law and, crucially, by reducing the speed limit for smaller trucks from 70mph to 60mph it will remove some of the incentive for operators to run unrestricted lorries which are older and, by virtue of that fact, could be less safe and more polluting."

Further information:
Freight Transport Association